AkzoNobel receives approval for facility in northeast England

22 February 2012 14:32  [Source: ICIS news]

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LONDON (ICIS)--AkzoNobel has been granted planning permission to build a £100m ($159m, €119m) manufacturing facility in the northeast of England, the Netherlands-based paints and coatings producer said on Wednesday.

The facility, to be based in Ashington, Northumberland, will treble AkzoNobel’s current manufacturing capacity in the northeast and will produce decorative paints.

AkzoNobel first announced the plan to build a new facility in July last year. The company received planning permission from Northumberland County Council on Tuesday, it added.

“Receiving planning permission is another step along our timeline towards 2014, allowing us to start building on this new world-class facility. This investment highlights the importance of the northeast to AkzoNobel’s operations, placing the region at the heart of our UK manufacturing business for the long term,” said AkzoNobel’s UK country director Guy Williams.

AkzoNobel said it plans to close its existing site in Prudhoe in northeast England and its manufacturing operations in Slough, west of London, at the end of 2014. Slough will remain the headquarters for the UK decorative paints business for marketing, and global research and development.

The Ashington facility will take on 140 employees, with many jobs expected to be filled by those willing to relocate from Slough and Prudhoe.

However, with a total of 210 employees at the the two sites, 70 jobs could be lost.

AkzoNobel said it is committed to ensuring appropriate support and development is in place for employees at the current decorative paints factories who wish to move to the new site.

The announcement follows a series of investments in the company’s fire protection facility and research facilities at its Felling site in Tyne and Wear, also in the northeast of England.

($1 = £0.63, €1 = £0.84)

By: Leigh Stringer
+44 208 652 3214

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